Egeria

: : : : : : : : : Is this term for boondocks strictly English? I've never heard it in the US. (But I have heard boonies).

: : : : : : : : : As an aside:

: : : : : : : : : When American GIs returned from Asia at the close of
: : : : : : : : : World War II, besides Victory they brought home a new
: : : : : : : : : word to add to the lexicon -- "boondocks". It is derived from bundok the Philippine word for mountain and decribes a place that is remote and inaccessible.

: : : : : : : : It's a pretty common term in the U.S. Probably from this song:

: : : : : : : Perhaps I was unclear. I'd heard of boondocks, it's the use of "the sticks" that I was questioning. Is it *British* English? (By the way, my apologies for the inappropriately placed carriage returns in my original post. That is what comes from cutting and pasting from a web site).

: : : : : : Yes, "sticks" is in common use here in the U.S..

: : : : : Speaking of the boonies, the sticks, all the way to hell and gone ... I found a bottle of Australian shiraz at the store the other day with a picture of a desolate Aussie landscape, and the name "Woop Woop." Of course, I bought it at once. The back label explained that Woop Woop was Aussie slang for somewhere far away and inaccessible, and the winemaker went to Woop Woop to gather together the best grapes, etc., etc. Charming story if true. Even if it ain't, it's a conversation piece label ... and it turned out to be not a half-bad wine, either.

: : : : Someday I have to brush up on my reading comprehension. Yes, "the sticks" is common in the U.S.

: : : In my neck of the woods, we say "way out in East Podunk," and we pronounce that puh-dunk', in defiance of any dictionary pronunciation key I've ever seen. It's from the Algonquin word for an isolated place.

: : : As a side note, there are several Podunks in Vermont. When I was a teenager, we spent a gorgeous fall weekend driving around on back roads trying to visit them all:

: : And in Raleigh County, West Virginia, we said, "I had to go all the way to Egerry." Meaning, "I had to go a long way." Actually the name of the place was Egeria. And it was a long way out.

: A number of years ago, the town of Podunk Center, Iowa was for sale. The whole town. If you had just invested then, you could own it now, and elect yourself emperor. Instead, you bought that Enron stock ....

and Jeb Bush inveigled to appoint his brother as Emperor of the US.

Recently, Jeb Bush sent a letter congratulating Douglas Racine upon being elected Governor of Vermont. However, Mr. Racine lost the election to James Douglas.